Sunday, April 14, 2013

A pilgrimage to Yiwu(2)

After we had a
lunch in Mr. Liang' home, we drove back to Mahei, passing Manxiu (曼秀)
and Luo Shui Dong (落水洞) villages. We stopped over in Luo Shui
Dong to see the legendary Tea Tree King said to be over 800-years old. Getting
through a forest, we suddenly found half-way down the hill, a big tea tree in
front of us. More than 10 meters in height, it isn't as spectacular as I
imagined while if you want to harvest its leaves, it seems to be challenging
and you may ask for the aid of a ladder.

In Mahei, with the help of Mr. Liang, we visited a few ancient tea gardens and
enjoyed fresh Pu Erh teas in the homes of several local tea farmers.

We got to know that a large proportion of good quality Pu Erh was still
produced from the Ancient Six Great Tea Mountains such as Yiwu(易武）,
Yibang（倚邦）, Youle（筱乐）in Xishuang Banna
even now while high-yield terraced tea bushes have been grown in Yiwu on a
large scale since 1980s. Tea bushes about 50cm in height were densely grown in parts of Yiwu.
Compared to the traditional local tea trees, such tea bushes have a very high
production and they can be harvested almost throughout a whole year. Although
Pu Erh made of such terraced tea bushes differ much in quality with that of
ancient arbor tea trees, it is still sold in the name of Yiwu Pu Erh at high
prices and mostly, said to be of ancient arbor tea trees to meet the huge
demand of the market. Such behavior severely ruined the reputation of Yiwu PuErh Tea. In fact, it is estimated that tea gardens of ancient arbor tea trees
is no more than 30% of the total tea gardens in Yiwu now.

At an altitude of 1300 meters, Yiwu is a small town surrounded by mountains.
During the prosperous time of Pu Erh tea trade, it was recorded that it had a
population of more than 20000 while the corrupt Qing government and the
competition of Indian tea directly caused the comedown of Yiwu town in late
19th. Century, plus pestilence that spread in this region and destruction
inflicted by rebellious ethnic tribes, Yiwu became more and more desolate and
less populated, by degrees finally passed into silence at the beginning of the
20th. Century. Now wooden houses are thinly scattered on both side of the only
narrow street of Yiwu. With the resuscitation of Pu Erh Tea in recent 10 years,
more and more people were attracted to the remote small town again. At night,
it is quite and we soon fell into sleep in a small hotel in Yiwu.

In the next morning, enjoying the fresh air, we wandered on the old street of
Yiwu town in a good mood. It is a street with a long history while it doesn't
look antique. With many underway constructions, all was in a mess and dust was
swirling in the air. As it hasn't rain for a long time, everything looked dull
and grey.

The famous tea businesses such as Tong Xing Hao(同兴号)、Che
Shun Hao(车顺号) and Fu Yuan Chan Hao(福元昌号)are said to have once been located around the place where Yiwu Primary
School is now at. On right side of its playground once was an ancient temple
while it has been replaced with the Ancient
Six Great
Tea Mountain
Museum.

Crossed the playground was a bluestone road with old run-down houses on its
both sides. Looked closely, the prints of the horses’ hooves left during the
ancient time can still be made out in the bluestone road, reminding us it was
the starting point of the famous Tea-Horse Ancient Route. More than 200 years
ago, ancient Chinese people with simple and crude equipment travelled along the
long and dangerous road on the risk of their lives to bring Pu Erh tea to Tibet, Mongolia
or South East Asia. It is just so numerous
ordinary people who made the brilliant history of Pu Erh Tea.

About Me

I was born in Huangshan, Anhui, China where is well known for producing famous teas such as Huangshan Maofeng, Taiping Houkui and Keemun Black tea. I drank and fell in love with tea when I was a boy. Now for years, my love and passion with tea goes on.

Now having been in tea industry for up to 10 years, I acquired abundant experience and knowledge of tea and tea market. I enjoyed what I am now doing, dedicated in promoting Chinese tea and tea culture and wish more and more people around the world fall in love with tea, benifited and get happiness from tea. That is my great pleasure.